“This is Ian McKellen’s toilet,” says Owen McDonnell enthusiastically. “Go in and have a look.” Sure enough, there’s a sign on the door of what looks like a broom cupboard that says “Ian McKellen’s WC”. Inside, the walls are plastered floor-to-ceiling with pictures of great thespians – Mark Rylance, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench – with a cut-out of McKellen taking pride of place , tiara perched upon his head.

McDonnell is giving me a tour of the Harold Pinter Theatre, where he’s starring in a revival of The Weir opposite Brendan Gleeson. “You can feel the history of the place,” he says as he leads me through a series of labyrinthine corridors. We make a few more twists and turns and emerge into an Irish bar. This is the set of The Weir, Conor McPherson’s seminal play about loneline

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